Something Simpler
by Soma Laii
Summary: After an eight year seperation, Roy and Ed find each other again. But eight years is a long time. Is the mutual memory of a brief but powerful affair a sturdy enough foundation to build a new life on, or are they too changed? RoyEd


**Disclaimer: **I own nothing so absolutely awesome as Fullmetal Alchemist. I am just borrowing it.

**Author's Notes:** This is an AU of the anime. It diverges about episode 43. Also, this is my very first fanfic, so feedback would be very much appreciated.

* * *

**Something Simpler **

* * *

"That's where-"

"Yes."

"You're sure?"

"Yes_._"

He stared at the rundown apartment building: lawn patchy, brick wall half-covered in graffiti, gate rusted, two teenage girls in short skirts and dark make-up sitting on the sagging steps, laughing and sharing a joint. "…. You're _sure?_"

"_Yes_, goddamn it, I am _sure_ this is where he lives."

Havoc stared at his guide until the young man squirmed, red-rimmed eyes darting everywhere but Havoc's face. Finally, Havoc shrugged, looked away, took his box of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket and tapped one out.

Of all the places to finally find Fullmetal, one of the worst neighborhoods in the capital of Aerugo just was not what he had been expecting. Was not what any of them had been expecting- even if half of them had never expected to find him at all. It had been almost eight years since Ed and Mustang had dropped off the map. That made him… twenty-four. If it was really him at all. After his and Mustang's coup, they had both been forced to flee the country. When Havoc and the others heard from Mustang and Hawkeye again, Hawkeye said that they had been separated from the brothers near the Creta border. Ed, they said, had been injured, his automail arm gone and broken ribs and broken who knew what else. Mustang had been injured, too, of course, had lost his eye and now needed the use of a cane, but he was alive. They were all alive.

Breda was a Lt. Colonel in East City. Fuery was a Major in Central, working for Intelligence. Falman had recently been promoted to Captain, worked under General Grumman. Havoc was the only one who had left the military when Mustang fled, Hawkeye, naturally, at his side. He could have stayed- Mustang and Ed had made sure that all the suspicion would fall on them alone, that the others would come out clean. Havoc had stayed for a couple of years, but it just hadn't been the same. Then he had gotten the call from his mother saying his father was dying. It had been such an easy decision to make. He had packed his bags and went home to help his mother out.

A couple months ago, he'd gotten the call from Hawkeye.

"We think we might have found Edward." she'd said. To most people her voice would have sounded flat and expressionless, but Havoc knew her well enough to hear the tentative hope. "We… Jean. We need your help."

Havoc didn't know how Mustang had tracked Ed down. They all knew that their old commanding officer had never stopped looking. They all knew that Mustang had cared about the boy dearly, even if he would never say it. Havoc, being the only one who could move around freely, had been given the task of meeting their informant and seeing if it really was Edward, or just another look alike, another imposter. (There were far too many people taking advantage of Edward's disappearance. Every month there was a new rumor of the Fullmetal Alchemist surfacing in some town or another, but it was always a scam.)

He leaned back against the door, brought his cigarette to his lips. Waited. Beside him, his guide shifted nervously. Whether because he wasn't as sure as he said he was or because of the neighborhood, Havoc didn't know.

Across the street, the younger of the girls banged on an old broken radio, fiddled with the knob and pouted.

"S'fuckin broken." the older of the two muttered, took a long drag.

The younger girl pouted a few minutes more, banged on it dejectedly.

"Jes' have Mr. Curtis fix it." the older girl said.

The younger girl's expression perked up. "Yeah. I betcha he'll do it. For free too."

"Ask 'im when 'e gets back."

"You ask him. I get all nervous when I talk to him and always end up saying something stupid."

Havoc listened to the girls' conversation degenerate into teasing and stuttered denials. The door behind them opened and a group of ragged boys poured out. They raced past the girls and out of the yard, leapt right over the fence and pelted down the street. Seconds later a middle-aged woman waving a rolled-up newspaper stepped out onto the porch, shouting after them.

Busy watching their retreating forms, Havoc did not immediately notice the young man coming up the other side of the street. His guide did.

"Look!" He pointed towards the two figures coming around the corner. "I _told _you." The skinny weasel of a kid shifted again, looked even more nervous. "Now give me the money before he sees me and let me go!"

Havoc got out the promised cash and handed it to the boy, who snatched it out of his hand and, after shooting a look across the street to make sure he had not been noticed yet, bolted.

Havoc tried not to gape. The young man headed his way had long blonde hair pulled up into a high ponytail that reached the middle of his back. He wore black slacks and a crisp white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, unbuttoned to halfway down his chest to show the black tank underneath. His right arm was flesh and blood with black lines crawling up it, but that wasn't what surprised Havoc.

He was not alone.

He held a paper bag in his left arm, and his right hand clasped the hand of the little boy who walked at his side. His head was tilted to the side as he listened to the boy chatter away happily. A little boy with bright gold hair just long enough to pull back into a short tail at the back of his head, wearing a red t-shirt and jeans with holes in the knees.

"-and Max said-"

"Don't listen to Max. He's an idiot." Ed shifted the bag in his arm. The boy muttered something under his breath and Ed laughed.

Havoc came out of his shock as he saw Ed nearing the apartments, straightened from his slump against the wall and started across the street to intercept them. Ed's eyes flickered across the street at the movement and he froze. Stopped so suddenly the little boy walked into the back of his knees. Havoc walked calmly across the street, stopped arms length away and smiled lazily into shocked golden eyes. "Hey, boss."

"Havoc?" Ed asked. Shock turned into happy surprise. "Havoc! Where- What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you." This close Havoc could see how much Ed had grown. The top of the younger man's head reached the top of Havoc's shoulder. He'd probably be eye level with Hawkeye. His face was sharper, leaner. All grown up and handsome just did not do him justice. The Colonel had some serious competition.

The little boy peeked at Havoc from behind his father's knees. The resemblance was so obvious there was no mistaking it. He could have been Edward's clone if not for his eyes. Instead of gold, they were a sharp, clear green. Havoc judged him to be about four. Seemed like Ed had been busy.

"What-" Ed stopped, surreptitiously glanced around them. "It's good to see you." he said instead. He smiled, jerked his head towards the apartments. "Come on inside." He let go of the little boy's hand long enough to snatch Havoc's cigarette from his fingers. "But no smoking."

The little boy lifted the latch of the rusted gate and Ed nudged it open with his hip. The little boy glanced back at Havoc as he followed them down the cracked walkway. Curious and wary.

The younger teenage girl smiled at Edward as he approached. "H-hey."

Ed smiled back. "Hey Lola." He nodded at the older girl. "Pauline."

A blush heated the younger girl's face. "Um- um, we were wondering if, um, if-"

Pauline broke in, "The bloody radio broke _again_."

"And, um, we were wondering if you could fix it for us." Lola finished.

"Sure." Ed said. "Hey, have you seen Luis today?"

"Mr. Barilla? No. But Trent was by earlier. I think he was looking for you. And, um…" Lola leaned forward, lowered her voice. "He looked kinda twitchy."

"Trent always looks twitchy." Ed said, but nodded at the girl to show he wasn't brushing her off. He hefted the radio. "I'll get this back to you." He said, and headed up the stairs and into the building.

The inside of the apartments didn't look much nicer than the outside. Peeling paint and threadbare carpet, but it was cleaner than he had expected. It smelled like Xingian food instead of piss and vomit like the one two blocks down where Havoc had met their informant. To the end of the hall and up two flights of stairs. Havoc watched Ed's ponytail sway and ripple, noticed that for the first time since he had known the boy his footsteps were not mismatched.

"Here we are." Ed said. He fished a ring of keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door. "Shoes off, please. Flynn freaks when we track mud all over."

Havoc glanced around the apartment as he tugged off his boots. It looked to be in better condition than the rest of the building, but Havoc bet that was due to Ed. It was small. The front door opened directly into the cramped living room, which contained a couch, a table, and four bookcases overflowing with books. There were books on the floor, on the couch, on the coffee table, under the coffee table (probably under the couch). Past the living room half the kitchen was visible, and Havoc could see yet more books on the kitchen table. To the right there was a hallway that probably lead to the bedrooms and bathroom.

Ed dropped the radio onto the coffee table, made his way toward the kitchen, said, "I'd give you the tour but there's not much point." To the boy, "Tristan, go check on Flynn."

The little boy disappeared down the hallway and Havoc followed Ed into the kitchen, where the blonde started unloading and putting away groceries.

"So." Ed started. "How did you find me?"

Havoc shrugged. "The Colonel did. I got sent down here to see if it was really you."

"They got away, then? They're okay?"

Havoc nodded. "Yeah. They're living in Creta, now." He looked around. More books in the kitchen, cookbooks and a couple of mystery novels. There was a vase with fresh flowers on the windowsill. "Riza's married, actually."

"They're… married?" Ed asked.

"Riza is, to the doctor that treated them. The two of them have a kid. A little girl, just turned two."

Ed smiled, looked relieved, looked _happy_. "That's good. That's great! I wasn't sure if they'd made it or not." Ed stood on tiptoe to put a bottle of wine in the cupboard over the fridge. "I was afraid… I mean, the Colonel was in pretty bad shape."

"From what I hear, so were you."

"Yeah, well." Ed shrugged. He shot Havoc a familiar crooked smile. "I'm fine now."

"And Al?"

Ed hesitated. "He's… He's fine." Ed crouched down and rummaged around in the cupboard next to the oven, came out with a pot he placed onto the stove with a clatter. "He's at school right now."

Tristan shuffled into the kitchen, a tiny black kitten clutched in his arms. "She's sleeping." he said. "I don't think she feels good."

Ed glanced at the clock. "Huh."

"Want me to wake her up?" He and the kitten looked up at Ed with unblinking green eyes.

"No. I will." Ed hooked his foot around the leg of a chair and pulled it over by the sink, then pointed to Tristan. "Okay kid. You wash all the veggies." He turned to Havoc. "And you supervise."

So barely ten minutes after seeing Edward for the first time in seven years, Havoc found himself rinsing off vegetables with a scarily meticulous four-year-old. After he rinsed off each vegetable, Tristan lined them up evenly, grouped them by color and size.

After a few minutes of silence, Havoc said, "I'm Jean Havoc." and offered his hand for the little boy to shake.

Tristan hesitated for a second, but shook the offered hand. "Tristan Curtis." His hand was so tiny in Jean's it almost disappeared. Treating him like an adult seemed to have been the right move though, because the boy relaxed a little and asked, "So you're daddy's friend?"

"Yeah. We used to work together."

"At the shop?"

"No."

"At the bar?"

"No."

"Back in daddy's country?"

"Yeah." Havoc watched Tristan put the last carrot in his neat little carrot line. "So how old are you?"

"I'm four." Tristan said. He didn't hold up four fingers like most children. Instead, he tagged on, "But I'm going to be five in two months, and then I'll be old enough to go to school. Daddy said so." Tristan turned off the faucet and wiped his hands on the dishtowel next to the sink. Then he hopped down and pushed and tugged the chair back to the table.

The kitten wound its way between Havoc's ankles, and Havoc bent down to scratch its tiny head. "What's this little guy's name?"

"Don Quixote. But I just call him Don. Daddy told Uncle Al and me we could only keep him if we didn't name him something stupid."

There were raised voices down the hall. Tristan only glanced up for a second, then glanced away. He seemed unperturbed by his parents fighting. After a few seconds Ed emerged from the bedroom, scowling. Havoc expected him to slam the door but he shut it with a quiet snick.

"Is she sick?" Tristan asked immediately, worried.

"Yeah, but don't feel sorry for her. It's her own damn fault." Ed said. When he realized how hard his voice had come out, he smoothed out his scowl and said, in a softer voice, "Why don't you finish that picture you were drawing for Uncle Al while I make us some lunch, huh?"

Tristan scooped up the kitten, padded out of the kitchen.

When Tristan was out of earshot, Ed gave Havoc an apologetic smile. "Sorry. You mind hanging around until later, so we can talk?"

Havoc shrugged. "No prob. Want some help making lunch?"

* * *

After lunch, they sat down in the living room with Tristan, who wanted to play cards. So the current status of the investigation into the Fuhrer's assassination was discussed over Go Fish.

Tristan won, and Ed laughed and ruffled his hair.

Havoc watched Ed and marveled. Ed was … calm. Steady. There was a deeper horror in his eyes than there had been the last time Havoc saw him, but instead of being weighed down by it, he seemed lighter. Which Havoc supposed only made sense. Al had been restored, and Ed's burden lifted.

"So, what do you do now?" Havoc asked as he handed Tristan his two, and the little boy won again.

"I work at the garage down the street, and at the bar on 12th and Main. Today's my day off."

Havoc raised an eyebrow. "No alchemy?"

Ed shook his head. "No. I haven't used alchemy much since… well, in quite a while, now." He watched Tristan deal them another game. "How about you? What have you been up to?"

"I've been helping my mother run our family's store ever since my father died." Havoc shrugged. "She doesn't need my help so much anymore, now that my cousin is living with her, but I find I like the simplicity."

"Hm." Ed smiled a little. "I know what you mean." He tucked his hair behind his ear, and Havoc noticed that said ear was adorned with three silver hoops. Somehow, the jewelry surprised him more than the kid did.

Tristan beat them soundly once more before the boy grew tired of the game. Ed checked the clock on the wall above the kitchen table, said, "Okay kid. Nap time."

Tristan whined, wheedled, and insisted he wasn't tired at all, but was ushered down the hall and into his bedroom anyway. Three feet from his bed, he noticed Don Quixote's absence, and the nap was postponed for a minute while Ed searched for the small black feline, and then postponed a few minutes longer as Tristan insisted he had to go to the bathroom- twice. Finally, the kid was tucked into his bed and the heavy curtains in his room were drawn tightly shut. When Ed finally shut the kid's bedroom door, he looked exasperated rather than irritated. He poked his head into the room next to Tristan's, said, "It's almost three, Flynn." and was answered by a sleepy, pained mumble, to which he responded, "It's your own bloody fault for getting shitfaced when you knew you had to work." He shut the door. Then he opened Tristan's door back up and said, "Don't think I don't hear you turning pages in here. Nap."

Two more minutes sneakily listening at the doorway, and then Ed returned to the living room. He picked up the cards and put them away, then went about tidying up the toys strewn about the living room.

"So it's Edward Curtis now? Why Curtis?"

"Teacher's last name was Curtis." Ed put crayons back into their tin and put the tin on the coffee table. "She was just as much mother as teacher, and Al and I thought it would be appropriate."

"And no alchemy…"

Ed shook his head. "No. Tristan… doesn't even know I ever studied it. He doesn't know anything about… any of it. He reads a lot of adventure stories and crap. He has hundreds of different theories about why I came here." Ed rolled his eyes. "Flynn just makes it worse."

"Is she his… mother?" Havoc tried to imagine Ed married and couldn't do it.

"Flynn? No. Flynn's a friend. We work together at the bar and share this place." Ed gathered up drawings and stacked them neatly. "Tristan's mother… left. About three years ago now."

Havoc watched Ed's face as he said that. He couldn't read anything from it. "Sorry to hear that."

Ed shrugged. "Probably for the best, really. She was…" He shrugged again. "What about you, Havoc? Got anyone special back home?"

Havoc sighed dramatically. "No. Not for lack of my mother trying, though. She's convinced I need to get married, settle down, start a family." He rubbed the back of his head. "My cousin Sheila thinks it's hilarious."

Ed chuckled. "Sounds like Mrs. O'Brien. Ever since Caitlin ran off, she's been trying to hook me up with every girl that meets her standards. Which, thankfully, isn't too terribly many." Ed went into the kitchen and got a toolbox from one of the cupboards. Then he sat down cross-legged across from Havoc with the toolbox and the broken radio. "Okay. Now, how has everyone else been?"


End file.
